The Power of Sunlight
by Cloudbreeze
Summary: The Hidden Runner is a name to be feared by all the clans. But her true name is the Night Assassin. The clans killed her sister many moons ago, which set off the fighting, vengeful spark in her. The Night Assassin was invincible, except for one flaw. But perhaps there was only one way to return to being the invincible assassin. This is a one-shot challenge for Dawn of These Clans.


Who am I? I have no name. But they call me the Hidden Runner, those cats by the lake. But in truth, I am the Night Assassin, and I have earned that name for good reason during my lifetime. The Hidden Runner is a name to be feared, now.

In the clans by the lake, I am just an empty threat. Queens tell their kits, _'Come inside, or the Hidden Runner will come and get you!'_

I am more than just an empty threat. If you ask any cat I knew during my lifetime, who has survived my attack long enough to tell their tale, I am a true assassin. My presence was something to be feared, then, but now, I am nothing.

I was swifter than any other cat, I was stronger, I was more skilled, I was darker. But I had one flaw, and that was the sunlight. I was practically invincible; I could kill the strongest warrior, but if the light of the sun touched my pelt, I would lose the power to fight, and, until I returned to the darkness, I was just a normal warrior. The moonlight, on the other hand, was a friend of mine; I was undefeateable then, too.

Perhaps I got my dark appearance because I walk in the shadows. I am a jet-black she-cat, without even a tuft of paler fur, and my eyes, too, are darker; they are a midnight blue, the color of the night sky. I have extraordinarily sharp teeth and claws, and my fangs are almost paralyzing.

I have never been fully seen; however, those who catch a glimpse of me see nothing but a swift, blurred shadow as I dash past.

I emerge at night, I hunt at night, I kill at night. Nothing in the daylight. I was beautiful, yet powerful at the same time. But all that power vanished into nothing one particular morning, when the sun's rays scorched my pelt.

I lived in a dark cave near the lake, and I was watchful of the clans. Why? Because I was to destroy them all, one by one.

It may be brutal, but it was a form of revenge. The clan cats had once killed my older sister, when I was only two or three moons old. I still remember the very day... her name was River, and I recall her beautiful, sleek tabby pelt, stained with dark blood, lying motionless in front of me. She had lifted her head slightly to speak her last words... "Avenge me."

This was my form of revenge. And in a cat's dying moments, I always whispered to them the reason for my hatred of the clans.

But every power has its fall, and the mistake I had made was that I allowed myself to be seen. The sun's rays had touched my dark fur, and a single cat... had seen me. She was a light tortoiseshell, and I distinctly recall her terrified face less than tail-lengths from mine. I had killed the small she-cat, but her dying yowl of, "Hidden Runner!" had alerted the entire clan.

I was fast, too fast to be caught by the clan cats, but they had found my hideaway.

I could kill each and every one of them if we were in the dark. But the clans never destroyed me, in the end. I was just too quick and strong. I would lure them into my cave, with strong scent or pawprints, or I would simply kill these cats, one by one, at night.

The clans never killed me.

The sunlight spirits did.

These were the spirits of cats I had definitely seen before, and, as I remember, they materialized in front of me out of the sunrays. Sunlight. The one and only word that leaves me in fear. The only and only word that sends shivers down my spine. The one and only word that could cost me my life.

How had I seen the sunlight spirits before, you ask? These were the all-too-familiar faces of cats that I had once killed. Apparently, the clan cats who died at my bloodstained paws didn't go to StarClan, or whatever it was called. They went to the sunlight.

And I had no defense, as I couldn't fight in sunlight, forget _against_ sunlight.

I fought to the death, my sharp claws gleaming as they tore into fur and flesh, my fangs bared as they sank into the feline bodies of the sunlight spirits. But though I could easily take on multiple cats in the darkness, I couldn't in the sunlight, and soon enough, I had fallen to the ground, blood and life seeping from my limp body, as I opened my eyes to whisper my last words. "I remain forever."

And then, my spirit just faded from the spot, and, as I appeared at the side of the battle, I stared at my former pelt as it lay at the sunlight spirits' paws.

But I didn't join the sunlight spirits.

I became my own spirit, the first of my kind. I was a moonlight spirit, and I walked in the darkness, and I would forever. Now that I had left the world of the living, the sunlight was nothing to me. I was dead, wasn't I? The sun's rays touched me, but had no effect. Still, out of habit, I would stay in the darkness, as I had for the entirety of my life as the Night Assassin, or the Hidden Runner.

But I hadn't given up.

I never would.

My spirit would haunt the clans until they dissipated or died out.

I am still the Night Assassin, and my power is to kill. Now, I am truly invincible. No light could stop me, and I would only rest when the clans were destroyed. I will never forgive those cats for the way my older sister had died at their paws.

Oh, sweet revenge. It knows many names. Sometimes, it is the slightest anger, a bitter accusation. Other times, it is the cause of death and fury, and an unstoppable, limitless hatred that would unleash fear among the cats. The clans now dismiss me for a legend, but when I next strike, all they have been told will be proven inaccurate. And a new fear would rise. Fear. The scent that told me my future victims.

I am still swifter than any other cat, I am stronger, I am more skilled, I am darker. I strike deadly and swiftly, and the clans will be no more. I would take the revenge that was rightfully mine and my sister's, and I would restore the truth.

And, in a sense, I am glad that I left the world of the living, for now, I am invincible at any time, and at any place. But I miss the life of a hidden runner, of a cat that was a shadow in hiding forever. And now, I will return to the moonlight only when the clans are dead.

I wasn't adored; I was _feared._ I was envied. I was admired for my skill. But I still wasn't loved.

Despite my skill and technique, my pride and the clans' envy, no one would miss me. I was a threat to the cats by the lake when I was living, and now, I will carry on my life as an assassin, though I am already dead. And no one can stop me, because I am the moonlight spirit. And, I'm already dead. I can now kill in full daylight, in front of other cats, if I wish. Because now, nothing, no one, can ever hurt me. I am invincible.

My next victim is one that will leave one of the four clans in complete paralysis. It is a gray tom, a large cat that I have often seen in the forest, but he has never seen me, as I am too swift. From the way he moves, I can tell that he has once injured his foreleg, and he once had a deep scar across his flank. But why would this cat hurt the clan so much? Because this tom is special. He is a leader.

From above, I would watch as the clans gathered in their little meeting place, and my claws would unsheathe with delight as I hear them speak. My pricked ears can already imagine the words coming from the new leader's mouth. _"The Hidden Runner is back."_

But I would be safe. No cat is foolish enough to face me, at the cost of his or her life. There is no question about the matter. If a cat sees me, he or she dies before they can pass on the story.

I currently reside in the midst of a dense forest that is lit by the moon and never the sun, which suits me perfectly. From this forest, I can easily drop down to the living world to carry out my work and revenge on the clans by the lake.

I gaze through the moonlit pool, down, down at the clans as they busy themselves below. My unsheathed claws slash at the water, and I watch intently as ripples spread through the once peaceful, placid pool. Shimmering water washes over my black paws, and I nod slowly as I watch the ripples thoughtfully. These ripples, for me, were a symbol of everything I had done.

They were a symbol of the consequences of my past actions.

And then, for a heartbeat, I could see a distinctive triangular, silver face appear inside the pool. Blue-gray eyes met mine, and the head dipped once, then vanished amongst the ripples. I would know that face anywhere. It was River, my sister, and I would never forget her, though she died long ago, when I was barely two or three moons old, a young kit. She had sparked the warrior spirit in me, the fighting spirit, and I would never forget her.

River.

I never would see her again. She wasn't a sunlight or moonlight spirit, so she must have gone to somewhere else, a place I would never know of.

I do not recall what my true name is. I doubt I ever had one. I might not even have been born with the coal black pelt I have. It may have been a silver, like River's, but it grew darker as I walked amongst the shadows. It could only get darker, now, as I lived in the darkness.

When I was alive, the sunlight was my enemy, and the moonlight was my friend. Were the sun and moon always quarreling? Why did my invincibility and skill change when I stepped into the sunlight? How did I achieve the kind of power and strength I have now?

Alas, so many questions must go unanswered. I wonder when I will ever figure out the truth.

But maybe, I took my revenge too far. Perhaps I was blinded by fury that I forgot the reason I was an assassin. I might have killed for the pleasure of killing, rather than for revenge. But my true revenge is not over yet. I will kill the cats who killed my sister, and I will never let go.

A clan leader once told the entire gathering place that if she could meet me face-to-face, she would say barely one thing.

 _"We admired everything about you, except your existence."_


End file.
